Comic Book Resources Columnists Go Elsewhere
In April of this year, the long-running (founded 1995) industry site Comic Book Resources changed ownership. Founder Jonah Weiland sold the site to a media website company. At the time, no significant changes were announced.
Now, though, there are signs of a new vision for the site, which was known in the past for its notable columnists, which have included Warren Ellis, Steven Grant, and Gail Simone. First came word that Augie De Blieck, Jr., after completing 1000 columns (!) over 17 years, was leaving due to a decision by the “new ownership” not to continue his column.
Pipeline #1000 is the last at @CBR. It's been an amazing 17 years with the site and I wouldn't trade it for anything. #Pipeline1K
— Augie De Blieck Jr. (@augiedb) July 12, 2016
The new ownership has decided not to continue with Pipeline. They were gracious enough to let me stay through #1000, though. #Pipeline1K
— Augie De Blieck Jr. (@augiedb) July 12, 2016
He’s now established his own site, PipelineComics.com, and has moved his weekly column to ComicBook.com.
Now, Brian Hibbs has landed his Tilting at Windmills column at Heidi MacDonald’s ComicsBeat.com. That first column is about Marvel’s relaunch strategy, but at the beginning, Hibbs says:
CBR got sold, and the new ownership decided that “columns” were not a thing that they wanted to do any longer — which, fair enough, it’s their website. Ultimately I think The Beat is going to be a better home anyway — the kind of think pieces I write are much more in sync to the commentary-focus that the Beat has.
Hibbs is must reading for anyone who wants to understand the unique challenges of comic market-specific retailing, so I’m glad he’s still putting out his column… and at a site I already read. I’d given up on CBR, with the exception of the Robot 6 blog, although that’s down to a sometimes-daily collection of headlines and the occasional weird merchandise press release. I miss the days of pointed commentary, but the people I knew doing that well have gone elsewhere for more remunerative results. Can’t blame them. To stick it out in this business, you have to be stubborn and independently funded.